


i will catch you when you fall

by wrathspawn



Category: Hades (Video Game 2018)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Death, Death but it isnt permanent ya know, Grief/Mourning, Hurt/Comfort, Love, M/M, References to Ancient Greek Religion & Lore, SPOILERS for the first time you beat Hades, Suicidal Thoughts, True Love, i love this game so much, soft, the styx, zagreus has it rough yall
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-25
Updated: 2020-10-25
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:47:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,439
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27187498
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wrathspawn/pseuds/wrathspawn
Summary: The first time Zagreus meets his mother, what he discovers nearly breaks him.The Fates are cruel, and the Prince of the Underworld doesn't know if he can keep doing this.Thanatos won't let him give up.
Relationships: Thanatos/Zagreus (Hades Video Game)
Comments: 19
Kudos: 409





	i will catch you when you fall

**Author's Note:**

> this one-shot is a product of my hyperfixation on this damn game. i can't get it out of my head and i have Feelings about what Zagreus goes through. i needed some hurt/comfort, so i made it myself. 
> 
> this is unbetaed, because i am an impatient bastard.
> 
> i hope you enjoy!

“Mom…”

Persephone looks up, startled, at the sound of Zagreus’ gruff voice. His expression is devastating, it holds the weight of so much yearning and strife it nearly knocks the goddess right off her feet.

“Impossible- You lie! Leave me!” She can’t accept the implication of that one small word. She can’t bear the thought. There must be a mistake. The man looks stricken, but says nothing at first, just takes a step forward. His face… His hair… His _eyes_.

It is Zagreus. Clear as day.

“Please, I’m your son, Zagreus. My father lied to me, he told me Nyx was my mother, but she’s not. You are.” His voice is beseeching, but firm. This is the truth he has bled a hundred times over for. The truth he died for more times than he can count. He deserves this truth.

“So it is you. You were meant to have died. They never told me you were alive.” Persephone sounds so soft, he barely hears her. The words are laced with sorrow and betrayal. It stings to hear. A bird cries softly overhead. “How could they not have told me?”

She closes the distance between them and gently cups Zagreus’ face. He leans into the touch and knows peace for one single moment. Then his face crumples in pain. The whimper, much like that of a wounded wolf, shakes Persephone further. Dread creeps in.

“I have so much to ask you.” The words are strained, his throat is growing coarse.

The cold is seeping into him, leeching his flames. The fire in his feet is even sputtering. It turns his victory sour, shackles his heart once again. Zagreus turns mismatched eyes onto his mother in desperation.

“What is happening to me?”

How do you tell your child that they cannot ever truly live? Persephone is lost for the words.

“You cannot stay.”

The sound he makes threatens to tear Persephone apart from within. Such is the pain of knowing how he has suffered, only for no answers and so little time. She cannot let him leave this way.

“Come back to me, Zagreus. Return, and we will make the most of our moments together each and every time. You will find me here. I will not leave this place.”

Zagreus is not satisfied. How could he be? Yet he has no choice. He has so many questions, so much lost time. The warmth of his mother’s hands flowing into his skin is so comforting, but it is not enough. This is the affection he never got, from the mother who never held him. It is cruel to have it ripped away. To suffer endlessly, for mere seconds of the love he never should have been stripped of.

“I will… I…. I will come back…. I promise.” Everything hurts so impossibly. He has taken so much punishment to get here, and yet this ceaseless and thieving cold is the most achingly painful thing he has ever experienced.

His mother is opening her mouth to speak again, but he can no longer hear. Fear grips him like a vice. Will he even make it back? After how long it took this time? After so much death?

Zagreus falls to one knee, and Persephone’s hands slip from his face. He imagines she is crying, but he cannot lift his face to see. This death is much less violent. It is by far the worst he has ever experienced.

**TAKEN BY THE STYX**

Blood.

It’s warm, it’s all consuming, it’s suffocating. Zagreus does not rise to the surface this time. His heart is so heavy, it drags him down. He sinks, and wonders vaguely about whether there really even is a bottom to the Styx. He doesn’t care much. The thought of starting over, it’s unbearable. If he never leaves the Styx, maybe he won’t ever have to face any of it ever again.

His chest begins to hurt something terrible. The pressure makes it feel as though his ribs will buckle inwards. Maybe he will implode. Even still, he finds it hard to care. He has never felt such an immense disinterest in all his life. His promise feels like a pipe dream, his grip on all of his passions is fading. Zagreus opens his eyes and sees red. He opens his mouth and tastes iron. He wills himself to become one with the crimson tides.

Then there is a fierce grip on his bicep. It is cold, cold as…

Death.

Blood rushes past Zagreus’ ears as he is dragged to the surface. His head breaches and he convulses as the red liquid evacuates his lungs. He can barely hold his head, so it is immensely lucky that someone else is cradling it. A frigid palm pressed to the back of his head, a strong arm wrapped around his waist.

Blinking slowly, Zagreus is able to make out Thanatos’ face through bleary eyes. He is promptly skewered by an intense golden stare. Thanatos is breathing heavily, chest pressing against his at sharp intervals. Zagreus has never seen him look so… Panicked. He is always so softly indifferent, this frenzy in his eyes makes some of the haze in the prince’s mind abate.

“Hey there, hot stuff.” He coughs harshly at the effort it takes to say the words.

Thanatos is unamused. He remains silent, holding Zagreus tightly, and the prince begins to wonder where everyone is to be completely unaware of this very public spectacle. Surely his father would be aghast at this display.

Finally, Death speaks. “I felt you. I could feel your will to die. Really die.” His voice is so broken, so stricken, it makes Zagreus feel again. “I won’t let you. Death isn’t done with you, you foolish, selfish, brash prince.”

“Hypnos set them all to sleep.”

Thanatos nods, his breathing beginning to even. Zagreus can tell he is angry, but relieved as well. It makes his heart swell to know his lover feels so strongly for him. The guilt settles in his bones next to the grief.

“I am sorry, my love. So sorry.” Zagreus wants to go back to his teasing self, wants to make some witty remark. He knows Than sees through it, he can hear the icy tone of sadness in his voice, surely. No use hiding from Death.

“I know you are, Zag.” Zagreus could suddenly understand the way mortals spoke of Death as comforting. This embrace, these words, Thanatos is feeding him the affection he is starved for. The prince feels something hot and wet drip down his face, at first he thinks it must be blood. Thanatos looks startled.

Tears, then. Of course, Than would never have seen him cry, he does it so rarely, always alone. A grey thumb rubs softly across his cheek, chasing the droplet away.

“You will never be alone, my prince. No matter how many times you fall, no matter how many times you triumph. I will be there. I will always be here.” Thanatos pulls him out of the river and holds him in his lap. They must look like a disaster, soaked in blood, sitting on the floor in a mess of limbs. Zagreus can’t bring himself to care, all that matters is that Thanatos is here, when he needs him. He feels so full of love he can hardly stand it.

“So don’t give up. You electrify everyone in this house with your drive, you reckless creature. And I love you for it.”

Zagreus’ breath nearly stops. They know, of course they know that they love each other, but they’ve never spoken the words so plainly.

“That’s right, little prince, I love you.” Thanatos actually chuckles at his surprise, the vibration warms Zagreus. “So get up and fight, and I will catch you whenever you fall.”

Zagreus nods into Thanatos’ neck.

“Than?”

“Yes, princeling.”

“I love you too.”

“I know, Zag.”

“Uhm… I really hate to interrupt, but my spell really isn’t going to last much longer, so you two might want to take this elsewhere, because I don’t think Hades is going to like… Whatever this is!” Hypnos is gesticulating wildly, and looking over his shoulder toward the slumbering god in question nervously.

Zagreus and Thanatos devolve into laughter as Sleep steers them towards the prince’s chambers. Pain may follow him for an eternity and yet never be able to take away the joy of hearing that pleased sound rumble within his lover’s chest. He may die a thousand times, and it will be a sweet welcome home into the arms of Death himself.

He finds he can bear it, after all. 

**Author's Note:**

> kudos, comments, etc etc, are all very much appreciated!<3


End file.
